Ingaborg's Mallow

Only here will anyone find this plant identified as Inga's mallow.  Her gift to Becky many years ago is the original source of this plant and its continuing presence in our garden.  Malva sylvestrs is the plant's proper name.  In our rather northern garden, this plant is a self seeding annual.  It chooses where it will grow while we provide some assistance. This plant sends down a sizable taproot so if it is to be moved that must be done early.

Ingaborg emigrated to this country from Germany between the two world wars.  We do not know if mallow seeds were included among the items that she brought with her from her homeland.  We do know that in her later years she would frequently weed out this plant since it was not the vegetable that she had planted.  Our transplants kept this plant alive in her garden for several years.  Now these beautiful flowers connect us with many pleasant memories of our various interactions with Inga.

One amazing feature of this plant is that its seeds continue to sprout all summer.  All of these pictures were taken on the same recent day and new plants are growing close by ones in full bloom.  These young plants will insure that we have flowers well into the fall.  We planted the purple flowered Helitrope while the mallows are self seeded and appeared well after the others were planted.  Our choice was to leave the grouping alone.

These seedlings are much younger and protected inside of a wire cage.  This cage provides protection from rabbits and keeps taller neighbors from shading out the mallows.  Function won out over appearance in this instance.

This poor plant lies just outside of the circle of protection.  Rabbits had a meal here but the plant does not look like it intends to give up.  We will watch but there is simply no way that a cage can be placed here.  This plants determination to continue in the face of adversity reminds us of the strength of character displayed by Inga.

September Splendor

We have been having warm sunny days and walking around outside in the garden has been truly splendid!   For someone who has purposely loaded the garden with nectar plants preferred by butterflies and their caterpillars these are the best of times.  Most of the time butterflies take off when you walk by or even if your shadow passes over them.  Just one click of the camera  usually sends them off.  Sometimes they speed past directly in front of you.   The beautiful creature you see here is a Painted Lady butterfly, Cynthia Vanessa.  I have seen painted ladies here before, but never so many as this year.  Several years ago it was Red Admirals that were so plentiful.  Their caterpillars practically ate all the stinging nettles to the ground!

This Painted lady is enjoying the October Skies asters in front of the house.  All of the asters are having a magnificent year and these purple beauties are one of my favorites!

Many of the blooms on my butterfly bush have gone past, but the ones that are still blooming are fragrant and welcoming.  There are four Painted Ladies in this photo.   Each one sits on a plume of pink flowers except for the one that is flying and I think just about to land.

This amazing clump of  Malva sylvestris is in the same bed as the butterfly bush.  I am lot more accepting of the holes in their leaves now that I know mallows are a favorite food of painted lady caterpillars.  We still see some Monarchs, Sulfurs and others, but this year the Painted Ladies have made for a splendid September!

September First Frost

Just to be clear, this post title refers both to the first frost of the season and the fact that it occurred on the first day of September.  Located in the Southern Tier of New York, we are accustomed to seeing the aftermath of a late September frost some years but never this early in the month.  The weather service did not speak of possible frost last night but mentions it for tonight.  Last night's forecasted low was in the mid forties.  We have been here long enough to know the likelihood of frost in our location when the weather station expects numbers in the forties.  It came as no surprise when we looked out this morning and saw wilted leaves on the squash.

The pattern of the damage raises more questions than answers about the actual movement of the cold air that caused the damage.  Long after we placed our garden we observed the pattern of frost on the grass.  Cold pours down from the high ridge behind the ridge that we can see from here and its path is defined by our low notch.  That river of cold follows the contour of the lower ground and finds an exit toward the west.  Unfortunately for us, a wide bend in that river washes over much of our garden.  The basil is planted on slightly higher ground and escaped any damage last night.  We hope that it remains undamaged come morning.

When I first came to this area little more than one half of a century ago, the old timers spoke of the year without summer.  They had heard stories from men much older than themselves of a year when frost formed every month of the year.  Only July and August are usually free of freezes but there are old tales of frost then. If the frost formed before midnight last night, then we just experienced frost in August.  So in this youngster's memory, frost eleven months out of the year is possible but rare.  A July frost seems highly unlikely but who is going to argue with tales from the collective memory of old timers.

This is just a little good news.  Ingaborg gave us these plants many years ago and we refer to them as Inga's mallow.  They self seed and reappear in many places in the garden.  They can be transplanted if the move is completed early since they grow from a taproot.  These beautiful flowers never fail to spark fond memories of a true master gardener.

This is the season of mums in front of many stores.  We prefer to grow our own but the plants prefer a warmer location.  This Mammoth Pink has held its location near the south facing house wall for the past two years.  It is self shaped since we never get around to that task.  These flowers should be fine tomorrow since our frost river flows far away from this spot.

Gardening, Isn't That Over By Now?

The reaction of the average person around here this week when I said that Ed stays home on nice days to work in the garden was one of disbelief.  "Gardening, isn't that all over by now? "  Indeed for most people it is over.  The weather is closing in on us more quickly every day.  We still have a few lovely flowers blooming like this Sedum sieboldi.
 

One or two plants of Ingeborg's mallow still have their lovely pink flowers.

Elle's Gloriosa Daisies have been fantastic this year, and despite numerous frosts, they haven't all given up yet.

The Emperor of China chrysanthemums are finally starting to bloom.  It would be a shame not to visit  and appreciate this end of the season beauty.

A beautiful hawk was seen perching in the big cherry tree.  It had a dark head and brown speckles on its white chest  like a lace necklace.  All day the Canada geese make their  trial flights over our head. Their honking and wing beats break the quiet until they settle back down on the river or into a cornfield with pungent freshly spread manure. The slate gray juncos have returned.  Still in a large group they fly away when approached flashing the white stripes on their tails as they go. They will spend the winter here with the chickadees.

There are weeds to pull. Old enemies and new unknown plants would love to have the whole winter to establish better roots.  It is our goal to leave as many of the garden beds clean and looking good as possible.  The pictured weeds here are now working to make compost.  Cutworms, Japanese beetle larva and slugs are squished when they are discovered and added to the bucket of weeds. Gloves worn because of the cool weather make this a fun activity.

This lemon verbena was not selected for a spot on the basement windowsill because there was no more space available.  Rather than leave it in the ground to die of neglect when the weather really turns cold, it was moved to compost while still green.  In a couple of years its unmistakable scent will be encountered once again as compost is sifted.  The cycle just keeps moving forward.

This snow sled was purchased at an end of season sale.  Becky felt it might serve as a stone boat.  Freshly fallen leaves make a slick surface to slide the stone over.  It was moved downhill despite the fact that the distance to the driveway was greater that way.  The pull was easy and once it nearly overtook me.  A smooth pull behind the Ranger delivered this beauty close to the developing rock garden.

We expect the frost to enter the ground here in about two weeks.  If the rain moves away, a real start can be made now on the next gardening season.

Still In The Pink

Although most of the flowers are gone in the garden, here and there some of my favorite  flowers are still in the pink.  My Sedum sieboldi that grows on top of Ed's wall is pink all over.  The same plant in other places have pink flowers, but the leaves are still green with a reddish edge.  They will change soon too.  I bought the first of these plants at Caprilands in 1993. All the others have come from that one.  It was just today with this plant at nose level that I discovered it has a spectacular fragrance. Just watch out for the bees!

This pink phlox is blooming underneath the smoke bush.  Apparently the frost has not yet found it there.  My white phlox has been gone for some time.

One or two of Ingeborg's striped mallow plants are still looking pretty.  One of them did lose its top to  a visiting deer.

Next to the stone wall this pink snapdragon still looks perfect!

With the warm weather we have been having one pink poppy  in the stone square is blooming.  It is a pleasant reminder of summer and one of my very favorite flowers.

A closer look reveals that this poppy is not the pale pink color that I try to maintain in the garden. Like the single poppies that appear in the garden, I usually pull the darker flowers as soon as I notice them to limit  their chance to pollinate.  It's necessary to maintain the  pale pink doubles that I love.  In this case I will let this plant stay.  It is the only poppy in the garden now and it won't cross pollinate with anybody!